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- JamesCanter's review
Picture courtesy of Ulrika.
| Quality of service | 2.6/10   |
|---|---|
| Layout of shop | 4.2/10 |
| Value for Money | 5.7/10 |
| Reviewer Rating | 3.4/10 |
| Overall Rating | 3.3/10 |
By JamesCanter
on 31st Jan 2005
| Goods purchased & cost | Furniture, £1000 |
|---|---|
| Quality of service | 0/10 |
| Layout of shop | 1/10 |
| Value for money | 10/10 |
| Overall value | 1/10 |
 JamesCanter's recommendation | |
Good value Good selection of products Good quality of porducts
Terrible customer service, I just hope that nothing goes wrong because in my experience IKEA won't be helping you out if it does.
My girlfriend and I went to IKEA with the intention of kitting out our bedroom, lounge and hall. We found the selection of products at the Bristol IKEA (United Kingdom) very good and managed to get round the store and down to the warehouse pick up area in a couple of hours.
Among our purchases that totalled nearly £1000 ($1900 USD), we bought a bed. The warehouse is laid out in such a way that you have to go and pick the bits from the shelves yourself. The bed came in 3 boxes and these were not located together. We asked for help and the staff selected the boxes for us. Upon arriving home (some 100 miles away) we discovered that the staff had picked the incorrect mattress and headboard. We rang IKEA to try and get some help and their customer services rep told us that it was our responsibility to check we had the right parts before we left the store. The paradox that IKEA have obviously neglected is that they insist you do not open the boxes in the store to check they are correct as they claim they are unable to sell items afterwards.
After IKEA were unable to pick up the items themselves and rectify THEIR mistake, I made the 2 hour drive back to the store in Bristol. I can only describe the attitude of the returns department as appalling. First a member of staff told me that both the items would be subject to a 30% reduction in the refund value because they were opened (neglecting the fact that you have to open the products to discover colour, size etc.) and then they told me that I would have to bring the whole bed back just to get them to change the headboard. When I spoke to the supervisor, he insisted that I describe the member of staff that picked out the parts for us, asking me questions about him ("was he black, white, tall, long hair, short hair?!"). After about half an hour of arguing with the supervisor, I finally managed to get the headboard and the mattress changed, but this was done with a huge amount of reluctance and the attitude of both members of staff was extremely poor, even when I genuinely thanked the assistant for his help. It was as if they just didn't seem to care about my problem and I was just another person with a pathetic complaint over something trivial. £1000 to spend at one store is a lot of cash (to me anyway) and IKEA just didn't seem to value my custom. They were happy to take my money and do half a job of picking the parts for us, but when it came to rectifying a mistake, in my experience they just couldn't be bothered!
This said, IKEA do have a very good range of products and both I and my girlfriend are very pleased with our new furniture. It was complete and easy to put together. If you go to IKEA and don't have any problems, you will love the place, it's cheap, there's loads of choice and its' good quality furniture. However, as someone else said in their review, "if something goes wrong, GOD HELP YOU, because IKEA certainly won't!"
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